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Sunday, March 24, 2013

I think anyone joining GeneaBloggers ought to just go with the flow
until he/she "gets" what an awesome, supportive, funky, creative,
inspiring, wacky, fun group this is. We're 3,000+ strong.

Founder Thomas MacEntee hit the "genealogy scene" with power and spunk. Said "spunk" sometimes put people off. (It's their loss, believe me!) But what he has accomplished by establishing GeneaBloggers in building esprit de corps is nothing short of amazing. The site includes info about:

what genealogy blogs are out there (by name, by category)

how to tweak a blog for best results

who is creating new genealogy blogs each week

blogging prompts (several for each day)

HOW NOT TO MAKE A GOOD FIRST IMPRESSION WHEN JOINING AN ORGANIZATION

Recently someone contacted Thomas, insistently expecting him to change the name of one of the time-honored blogging prompt titles. Thomas explained the meaning and history of the blog prompt, but the newbie would hear nothing of it.

That's what prompts Ol' Myrt here to remind folks:

When joining a new group, don't start out by trying to drastically remake things.

Stick around.

Get to know the members.

See where you can fit in.

Make friends.

The last thing you'd want to do is alienate everyone by trying to throw out years of tradition.

Yes, new blood is a good thing. Fresh ideas are welcome, but not from a guy or gal who starts out by shooting down significant traditions.

THE CASE OF GENEABLOGGERS

Members took offense at the pesky newbie's attempts to overhaul our system.

That
is not to say we are strict or "un"adaptable.

Indeed
we've grown to embrace many points of view and to appreciate our cultural and
ethnic diversity. We understand our variety of writing styles, and accept that
some write with a technical slant while others write purely to share the story
of a family's immigration to a new and different land. We feel the excitement
when one of our own busts through a brick wall and shares the triumph (and all
the cool details) in a series of posts.

Some
write including footnotes, some with less formal in-line citations, but all are
careful to share where we learned this or that. Copyright infringements are
fiercely supported by our group when even one in our midst gets splogged.

We
argue a point not in a competitive way, but to better grasp the idea being
expressed. We realize for all our individual contributions, we are better for
also being in conversation with the rest of the group.

We
know each other. We send prayers when one is nearly down for the count. We
mourn the loss of those who have gone on before us. We rejoice at births,
weddings, book publications, newspaper articles and TV interviews. We are likewise
thrilled by reunions of once lost loved ones and gatherings of heretofore
unknown cousins. When we attend the same regional or national conferences we
wear our tiaras and beads proudly, happy to spend even a few hours together,
perhaps over a meal. We step up to the plate and help by giving a class
scheduled for another who is unable to present due to unexpected accident or illness, a
father's sudden death or 4 feet of snow in Flagstaff.